IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/srbeha/v37y2020i1p68-81.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The contribution of systems theory to sustainability in degrowth contexts: The role of subsystems

Author

Listed:
  • José Antonio Plaza‐Úbeda
  • Miguel Pérez‐Valls
  • José Joaquín Céspedes‐Lorente
  • Belén Payán‐Sánchez

Abstract

The earth and the natural world have physical limits. Thus, industries or firm systems operating on this planet have limits as well. Infinite growth is intrinsically impossible. Some firms have integrated these principles into their management methods while struggling to survive in a traditional competitive environment with short‐term economic constraints. This paper explores the managerial practices that help firm systems address these paradoxical tensions of being responsible for the environment and having a long‐term degrowth orientation while also successfully competing in traditional capitalistic markets. Using a social system approach, the paper applies functional differentiation focusing on the internal aspects of the management of the firm. The paper highlights that the role of each subsystem can be crucial for integrating the survival of the firm system and the natural system';; limits. Each subsystem has a potential effect on the natural system that can be analysed and managed in a specific way.

Suggested Citation

  • José Antonio Plaza‐Úbeda & Miguel Pérez‐Valls & José Joaquín Céspedes‐Lorente & Belén Payán‐Sánchez, 2020. "The contribution of systems theory to sustainability in degrowth contexts: The role of subsystems," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 68-81, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:37:y:2020:i:1:p:68-81
    DOI: 10.1002/sres.2600
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2600
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sres.2600?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steffen Roth, 2017. "Marginal Economy: Growth Strategies for Post-Growth Societies," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 1033-1046, October.
    2. Vladislav Valentinov, 2017. "Comment: Marrying Functional Differentiation and Institutional Economics: Reflections on Steffen Roth’s Article," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 1047-1053, October.
    3. Steffen Roth, 2018. "Market Therapy? On Intervention in the Consociation with Non†members," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 127-138, January.
    4. Tim Jackson & Ben Drake & Peter Victor & Kurt Kratena & Mark Sommer, 2014. "Foundations for an Ecological Macroeconomics. Literature Review and Model Development. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 65," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 47497.
    5. Steffen Roth, 2017. "From Added Values to Augmented Realities. Introducing the Special Issue of Management and Functional Differentiation," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 131-138, March.
    6. Vladislav Valentinov & Lioudmila Chatalova, 2016. "Institutional Economics, Social Dilemmas, and the Complexity‐Sustainability Trade‐off (A response to Hielscher and Pies)," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 488-491, May.
    7. Steffen Roth, 2009. "New for whom? Initial images from the social dimension of innovation," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(4), pages 231-252.
    8. Moon, Byeong-Joon, 2013. "Antecedents and outcomes of strategic thinking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 1698-1708.
    9. Morgan Miles & Linda Munilla & Jenny Darroch, 2006. "The Role of Strategic Conversations with Stakeholders in the Formation of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(2), pages 195-205, December.
    10. Tim Jackson, 2011. "Societal transformations for a sustainable economy," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(3), pages 155-164, August.
    11. Freeman, R. Edward, 1994. "The Politics of Stakeholder Theory: Some Future Directions1," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 409-421, October.
    12. Geoff Mulgan, 2006. "The Process of Social Innovation," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 1(2), pages 145-162, April.
    13. Karey Harrison, 2013. "Ontological Commitments of Ethics and Economics," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 2(1), pages 1-1, April.
    14. Stefan Hielscher & Matthias Georg Will, 2014. "Mental Models of Sustainability: Unearthing and Analyzing the Mental Images of Corporate Sustainability with Qualitative Empirical Research," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 708-719, November.
    15. Roth, Steffen, 2015. "Free economy! On 3628800 alternatives of and to capitalism," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 107-128.
    16. Steffen Roth & Augusto Sales & Jari Kaivo-oja, 2017. "Multiplying the Division of Labour: Functional Differentiation of the Next Key Variables in Management Research," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 195-207, March.
    17. Thomas F. Burgess & Stephen M. Burkinshaw & Arun P. Vijayan, 2006. "Adoption of a focal production innovation within a supply network," International Journal of Management and Decision Making, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(6), pages 628-642.
    18. Spencer Thompson & Vladislav Valentinov, 2017. "The neglect of society in the theory of the firm: a systems-theory perspective," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(4), pages 1061-1085.
    19. Sergio Barile & Marialuisa Saviano & Francesca Iandolo & Mario Calabrese, 2014. "The Viable Systems Approach and its Contribution to the Analysis of Sustainable Business Behaviors," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 683-695, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Constantine Iliopoulos & Vladislav Valentinov, 2018. "Member Heterogeneity in Agricultural Cooperatives: A Systems-Theoretic Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, April.
    2. Iliopoulos, Constantine & Valentinov, Vladislav, 2018. "Member heterogeneity in agricultural cooperatives: A systems-theoretic perspective," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22.
    3. Taras Gagalyuk & Vladislav Valentinov & Franziska Schaft, 2018. "The Corporate Social Responsibility of Ukrainian Agroholdings: the Stakeholder Approach Revisited," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 31(6), pages 675-698, December.
    4. van Assche, Kristof & Valentinov, Vladislav & Verschraegen, Gert, 2022. "Adaptive governance: Learning from what organizations do and managing the role they play," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 51(5), pages 1738-1758.
    5. Vincenzo Formisano & Bernardino Quattrociocchi & Maria Fedele & Mario Calabrese, 2018. "From Viability to Sustainability: The Contribution of the Viable Systems Approach (VSA)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-17, March.
    6. Ossewaarde, Marinus, 2019. "Digital transformation and the renewal of social theory: Unpacking the new fraudulent myths and misplaced metaphors," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 24-30.
    7. José Plaza-Úbeda & Jerónimo Burgos-Jiménez & Eva Carmona-Moreno, 2010. "Measuring Stakeholder Integration: Knowledge, Interaction and Adaptational Behavior Dimensions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 419-442, May.
    8. Vladislav Valentinov, 2022. "System or Process? A Meta-theoretical Reflection on the Nature of the Firm," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 1-14, February.
    9. Cairns, George & Goodwin, Paul & Wright, George, 2016. "A decision-analysis-based framework for analysing stakeholder behaviour in scenario planning," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 1050-1062.
    10. Shaker A. Zahra & Mike Wright, 2016. "Understanding the Social Role of Entrepreneurship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 610-629, June.
    11. Bendell, Bari L. & Nesij Huvaj, M., 2020. "Does stakeholder engagement through corporate social and environmental behaviors affect innovation?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 685-696.
    12. Veldhuizen, Caroline, 2021. "Conceptualising the foundations of sustainability focused innovation policy: From constructivism to holism," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    13. Roth, Steffen & Dana, Léo-Paul, 2015. "What is a self-made expat? Self-disclosures of self-initiated expatriates," EconStor Preprints 110355, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    14. Steffen Roth & Augusto Sales & Jari Kaivo-oja, 2017. "Multiplying the Division of Labour: Functional Differentiation of the Next Key Variables in Management Research," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 195-207, March.
    15. Vladislav Valentinov & Martina Bolečeková & Gabriela Vaceková, 2017. "The Nonprofit Response to the Migration Crisis: Systems-Theoretic Reflections on the Austrian and Slovak Experiences," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 30(6), pages 651-661, December.
    16. Marival Segarra‐Oña & Angel Peiró‐Signes & José Albors‐Garrigós & Blanca De Miguel‐Molina, 2017. "Testing the Social Innovation Construct: An Empirical Approach to Align Socially Oriented Objectives, Stakeholder Engagement, and Environmental Sustainability," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(1), pages 15-27, January.
    17. Steffen Roth & Vladislav Valentinov & Markus Heidingsfelder & Miguel Pérez-Valls, 2020. "CSR Beyond Economy and Society: A Post-capitalist Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 411-423, September.
    18. Vladislav Valentinov, 2019. "The Ethics of Functional Differentiation: Reclaiming Morality in Niklas Luhmann’s Social Systems Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 105-114, March.
    19. Andrew Lynn, 2022. "Ethics, Economics, and the Specter of Naturalism: The Enduring Relevance of the Harmony Doctrine School of Economics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 661-673, July.
    20. Ruben Burga & Davar Rezania, 2016. "Stakeholder theory in social entrepreneurship: a descriptive case study," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 6(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:37:y:2020:i:1:p:68-81. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/1092-7026 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.